Alrighty then, whereas Mel Soaring 2 was a Quake 2 level for Half Life, this one was nearly a Half Life level but in the end became a Quake 2 level. Clear as mud then. According to the readme the author basically got fed up with Half Life's weedy bad guys and so decided to convert the level over, and a good job he did too as this is one of the most enjoyable Quake 2 levels I've played for ages. The only side effect of the change over is that some of the architecture's scale is a little wrong, but what the hey.

The story continues on from Mel Soaring 1 by having you set off to defile the tomb of the Stroggs leader (as you do). The gameplay involves you trundling through the tomb, introducing everyone you meet to your friend Mr. Shotgun, before setting a bomb and running, screaming for your life. Whilst the level is great, the ending is a little abrupt and could have done with a little jazzing up to bring the whole thing to a suitable climax.

As per usual for Quake 2 levels the framerate is generally pretty high throughout. There are a couple of places where 50 monsters come at you while you lob grenades about that cause minor slowdowns, but they really are quite minor. As opposed to being quite miner, which would involve people in vests and hard hats wandering around the level poking holes in things with pickaxes. And possibly sing hi ho type songs as well.

Having appeared in the level and seen that the first room was full of crates, I was all set for another humdrum base level. How wrong I was.

Instead what you get is an excellent looking medieval style tomb to run around in. Everything's suitably huge and imposing, and big, simple but effective shapes are the order of the day. Combined with the new textures the level really does look and feel different to most of the others out there. Other professional quality touches are things like areas you can see but can't get to yet. Eventually getting to those areas and realising it always brings a warm glow to my heart and a smile to my face. You know, I really think I'd better lay of off the caffeine.

The only downsides are a couple of bugs and a few areas with minor HOM effects, but they're not the end of the world by any means.

The entire level is just jam packed full of excellent new textures. They're mostly of the rusty / bloody metal variety and look exactly like Quake 1 or even Doom textures. If you're a nostalgic old fogey like me then this is no bad thing, as it can really make you feel like you're there again. Sniff, it fair brought a tear to my eye.

One thing that's odd is that the author still seems to have used suspiciously wall looking textures on the doors, just like Mel Soaring 2. Perhaps it's just me, but they do seem to look a little odd. Not odd enough to lose any points over though, so hurrah and all that.

Along with the design and texturing, the lighting helps to bring the level to life, and special note has to go to the light coming from the lava which consistently looks great. Pretty much all the lights seem to have a source, and although some areas are dark it rarely stays black for long.

On the normal skill setting there are 120 monsters spread across the level witch is a lot of shooting by anyone's standards. As opposed to Mel Soaring 2 where the challenge came from monsters appearing right behind you (grr), in this level the challenge is how the monsters come at you in waves. By that I mean you kill a group of bad guys and immediately another group enters the room and has a go at you. This as I'm sure you can imagine leads to some great fights, so even with so many monsters in the level it never gets too repetitive. Nice.

Spread out across the level are all of the weapons in the game bar the BFG, which is fair enough as it tends to make a mockery of any carefully set up battles in the level. A nice touch is that the majority of the weapons are dropped by dying aliens instead of just being lying around in convenient places.

Compared to Mel Soaring 2 the item balance is a lot more conventional but still very well judged. The health tends to be lying around in small groups rather than spread across the entire level. This means that you often need to remember where you left the health pack you saw earlier and go scampering back to get it. Having to backtrack might annoy some but I feel it adds another level of strategy to the gameplay, which has to be a good thing.

Although lacking in music there are plenty of ambient sounds dotted around to keep your ears amused. A few of the sounds are new and if you're anything like me the first time you hear them you'll be peering around wondering what's going on. Great stuff.

Although the actual gameplay of the level isn't really that original the new textures, sounds and kooky storyline do add up to set it apart. On the other hand, this is one of the few Quake 2 levels I've played that really felt like a Quake 1 level, so I suppose that's original. Yeah nice one Stu, argue yourself out of your own conclusions why don't you. Crazy fool.

This level didn't feel too realistic even compared to the majority of Quake 2 levels. The abundant use of lava and the remaining scale issues left behind by the swap from Half Life mean that it often doesn't feel like a real Strogg tomb. A real Strogg tomb? Sigh. I definitely need to get out more.

The difficulty level seemed very well balanced to me, which is excellent work considering how frustrating I found Mel Soaring 2 to be. On top of this the level supports difficulty settings so there's absolutely no excuse for blubbing at all.

Hmm, from 1 to 2 hours I would say, depending on whether you play it carefully or just charge through, guns blazing and pants flaming.

Nice atmosphere, helped by great lighting and new textures.

A couple of very minor bugs.

A bit of an abrupt ending, and it's only one level long.

Well, what can I say? After the disappointment of Mel Soaring 2 the author comes storming back with this little beauty. The boy done good as they say.

To conclude then, if you like your levels with loads of combat and a great atmosphere this one's for you. About the only thing it's missing is any real puzzles, but otherwise it's pretty much great. Download away I say.